In Retrospect
by Afficted
Summary: Why did it take 3 years for Chuck Bartowski and Sarah Walker to get together? Their daughter would like to know. Rated K for mild profanity.


**Hi. This may look like I'm excusing the S3 problems. I'm not doing so. I am trying to describe how this might be explained in retrospect (within the story, anyway).**

**Thanks to my wife and Anon for editing.**

**I own naught in the Chuck Universe.**______

_________________________________________________________________________  
_  
True love never runs smooth, you know.  
Sometimes there'll be sunny days,  
sometimes there'll be sleet and snow.  
When true love calls you, man, you gotta go.  
And when you gotta go, you gotta go._  
- Randy Newman

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Uncle John stared at Beth, apparently taken aback by her question. He glanced around. Perhaps, he was checking for hidden cameras. Then, he looked back at her. "Why are you coming to me with this? You asked your Mom and Dad, right?"

"Of course I did. I went to Dad first."

"All right. What did he say?"

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_Why did it take us three years? Bethy, that's a question I really try not to ask myself. I fell for your Mom almost the second I saw her. I couldn't believe a woman as beautiful as her was even talking to me. She brought out the best in me, made me more confident about who I was and who I could be. But it wasn't an immediate thing. I made a lot of mistakes. I was always second-guessing myself and her feelings for me. I didn't fit the kind of guy who a woman like her would normally go with. I'd ask myself, was she around me for me, or for some other reason? So sometimes, I gave up, and looked elsewhere. Other times, I pushed her too hard and too fast. Then, when she was finally ready to move forward, I pulled back, for reasons.... I'm not even sure I can even recall the reasons. I do know that I seriously hurt her. She backed away from me, and I thought, "OK, I had my chance, and I blew it. I've just gotta move on." That was a mistake which only made things worse. It took us another year to finally get past all that and admit our feelings to each other. That was a very rough year. But, we made it, and if that process was what it took, I'd do it all over again._

Uncle John grunted. "All right. And your Mom?"

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_It wasn't love at first sight. I didn't fall for him the second I saw him. I fell in love with him a minute or two later when he helped out this little ballerina - Oh, sorry Beth, I know I've told you that story a million times. Why three years; that's what you want to know? It took three years, sweetheart, because I was a bit screwed up in the head. I had major trust issues and I'd never met anybody like your father before. A part of me immediately knew what he represented, but a larger part of me was absolutely terrified by that. I tried to hide behind any excuse possible to keep him at bay. He just kept pushing aside the barriers as I'd put them up. Then, there came a point where I saw him start to change. To grow. And I felt threatened. So I panicked, and put an impossible choice in front of him. He couldn't make that choice, and I freaked out. I put up a new stronger wall, and for the next year, I kept finding ways to reinforce it, including going to somebody else who was... an extremely bad idea. But he was safe, and your father... wasn't. It was a very unhappy time. But, finally, your father came forward with his feelings again, and there was just a point where I couldn't lie to myself any longer. And here we are, fifteen years later, and we have you, and I'm so lucky, Beth. I'm so very lucky._

Uncle John grunted. "Those seem like good answers. Why aren't they good enough for you?"

Beth shrugged. "I just don't get it. Why should it be so hard? They loved each other. I see every day how they love each other. Why was it so hard to get there?"

"Still don't understand why you're asking me about this. You've got other people you can go to."

Beth started ticking them off her fingers. "Aunt Ellie gets all weepy whenever she talks about them, Uncle Awesome tries to come up with a lie and embarrasses himself, and Uncle Morgan just tries to make the whole thing a fairy tale. You worked with Mom and Dad. Dad says, 'you tell it like it is.'"

"Hm. I don't think so, kid." Uncle John started to stand up.

Beth played her final hand. "Mom and Dad also told me not to ask you."

Uncle John sat down again, a smile forming on his face.

"Why did it take them three years to get together? The reason, Beth, is because they were twits. OK, let me try to be fair here. They weren't supposed to be together. It was against the rules. Even I told them they weren't supposed to be together. The thing is, your parents were lousy at following rules. Your Dad never learned how to follow rules. Your Mom used to know how to follow rules, but then she fell for your Dad and the rules went to Hell."

Beth felt herself flush a little. She had known what she was in for when she went to Uncle John. The man didn't sugar-coat, even for people he loved. She had seen Mom and Dad laugh it off when he'd throw out a barb or insult towards them, and usually, they'd throw one right back. Even so, she still bristled when he'd speak negatively of them. Maybe that's why she threw out a challenge.

"I heard that you broke the rules for them a few times yourself."

Now it was Uncle John's turn to get red. "Yeah. Your folks threw me off my game. After awhile, I realized there was no point in trying to stop them. So, I just gave up and decided it'd be better for all of us if they just got together, already."

"Why's that?"

"Because they were driving me bat-shit _crazy_!" he hissed. His swearing didn't phase her, because she had learned almost all of her profanity from Uncle John, and besides, she sensed he was finally getting to the meat of the matter. "Oh my God," he moaned, then he put on a high-pitched voice. "I wuv you, Sarah. Can't you just forget your job and wuv me back?" Then his voice got even higher, "I wuv you, too, Chuck, but I'm all damaged, and besides, it would be wrong." He rolled his eyes. "Moan, moan, moan, whine, whine, girly feelings all over the place, and look, is that a pretty brunette? Oh look, is that a muscular coworker? Beth, your parents were _morons_." He took a breath, then added, "That's why it took them three years to get together."

"Because... they're morons?" Beth asked incredulously. "But, their marriage-"

"Their marriage is a good one. They'll fight. They'll love. They'll continue to be morons sometimes. But they're probably going to make it work. Beth, when it comes to love, we're all morons. We do incredibly stupid things, all of us. Things that make no sense at all. You will too. But, ultimately, your parents made it through all that bullshit. They made it. Who cares how long it took them to get there or all the stupid stuff they did to get there? The point is, they got there. Just consider yourself lucky. You didn't have to watch it."

Beth paused, considering. Then, she looked up at Uncle John and said, "OK."

"OK?" he asked. "No more going into girly stuff? Because you know, I hate that stuff."

Beth smiled, "We'll see. Thanks Uncle John." She leaned over and gave him a hug.

He lifted her up off the ground for the moment, then put her back down.

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**Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what y'all think.**


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